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The library

Thirteen poems, not five hundred and fifty

Burns wrote or collected well over five hundred pieces, and there are archives online that hold all of them. This is not one of those. These are the thirteen worth knowing first, with the Scots glossed from Burns's own glossary and, where a piece is a song, the air it was meant to be sung to.

If you are here because you half-remember a line, the famous line of each piece is set below its title. 9 of the 13 are songs.

  1. 01

    Auld Lang Syne

    “Should auld acquaintance be forgot”

    First line: Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

    1788 · 28 lines · a song

  2. 02

    A Red, Red Rose

    “My luve is like a red, red rose”

    First line: O my Luve’s like a red, red rose,

    1794 · 16 lines · a song

  3. 03

    To a Mouse

    “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men”

    First line: Wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie,

    1785 · 48 lines · a poem

  4. 04

    Address to a Haggis

    “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face”

    First line: Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,

    1786 · 48 lines · a poem

  5. 05

    Tam o' Shanter

    “Nae man can tether time or tide”

    First line: When chapman billies leave the street,

    1790 · 224 lines · a poem

  6. 06

    A Man's a Man for A' That

    “The rank is but the guinea’s stamp”

    First line: Is there for honest Poverty

    1795 · 40 lines · a song · Tune: For a’ that.

  7. 07

    Scots Wha Hae

    “Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled”

    First line: Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled,

    1793 · 24 lines · a song

  8. 08

    Ae Fond Kiss

    “Had we never lov’d sae kindly”

    First line: Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;

    1791 · 24 lines · a song · Tune: Rory Dall’s Port.

  9. 09

    John Anderson, My Jo

    “John Anderson, my jo, John”

    First line: John Anderson, my jo, John,

    1789 · 16 lines · a song

  10. 10

    The Banks o' Doon

    “Ye banks and braes o’ bonie Doon”

    First line: Ye banks and braes o’ bonie Doon,

    1791 · 16 lines · a song

  11. 11

    My Heart's in the Highlands

    “My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here”

    First line: Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

    1789 · 13 lines · a song · Tune: Failte na Miosg.

  12. 12

    To a Louse

    “O wad some Power the giftie gie us”

    First line: Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?

    1786 · 48 lines · a poem

  13. 13

    Sweet Afton

    “Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes”

    First line: Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes,

    1789 · 24 lines · a song

On the texts

These follow the standard nineteenth-century collected edition, taken verbatim rather than retyped, so the Scots spellings are the editor's and not ours. Burns died in 1796; every word of his on this site has been out of copyright for well over a century and belongs to everybody. More on how this was built.

Thirteen poems is not a Burns. If you want the whole of him, and the notes that make the difficult ones open up, it wants a printed edition: the two worth owning.